


EaTaS, Book One, The Plot's gone the way of the Phoenix

by IcyAda



Series: Echos across Time and Space: Remix [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Characters reacting to the books, Don't copy to another site, F/M, First several chapters are long, For now no Archive Warning because I'm not sure where this story will go, Hedwig (Harry Potter) Lives, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Multi, Not exclusively English but primarily english (check Notes section in chapter 1), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slight Molly Weasley bashing, Slight Ron Weaslley bashing, Song: Can't help falling in love by Elvis Presley, Wizarding World Bashing (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25239745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyAda/pseuds/IcyAda
Summary: “Sure there’s no other way, sir?”“Dear boy, I fear other options are quite out of reach for now”“Bloody hell, what a mess one man can make”“Quite”“….alright sir, I’ll do it”========="The Dogstar faded, The Sun fell on the Bumblebee, The Lion Sees a boy turned man in desperate need of help, and The Dark One should know, "Never tickle a sleeping dragon"......But of course not everything is as it seems in the life of Harry Potter, so why should this be too?AN: PLEASE READ THE NOTES SECTIONS, especially in Chapter 1. It will save you all rage and me having to deal with annoyed and angry commenters, thank you
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Echos across Time and Space: Remix [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828450
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	EaTaS, Book One, The Plot's gone the way of the Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Echos across Time and Space, Book 1, Something Wicked this way Comes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13409007) by [IcyAda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyAda/pseuds/IcyAda). 
  * Inspired by [Echos across Time and, Space, Book 2, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13480224) by [IcyAda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyAda/pseuds/IcyAda). 



> Sooooooooooo, hi, it's been a while. I litterally have no life right now and thus have all the time to write this (as of 7/13/2020), yet I am finding myself with another case of writers block brought on by the slooooooooow realization of what kind of project I've set myself.....I keep putting off writing for this part of the storyline to write future parts. 
> 
> The good part is that I have a head start on future books, the bad part is that I'm only like......a page into chapter Eleven of Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone which, as I've been condensing things down is only Chapter 6 of this fic. Soooooooooo I'm going to be VERY slow to update untill I can make headway on writing more for this part of the fic. 
> 
> I also have a quandry. (Notice: the following is slight Spoilers for this fic) 
> 
> \---------SPOILERS AHOY-------
> 
> So later in the storyline I am going to be exploiting the crap out of the Multiverse theory (and possiblly bending it to my will). Should I make each world (fandom) it's own book (example: Harry Potter is Book 1, SAO Book 2 etc.) ooooooooooor should I go with my orriginal plan of Characters react to the book is Book 1, Reincarnated characters attend Hogwarts is book 2 etc)
> 
> \---------END SPOILERS--------
> 
> Onto another topic I use forgin languages in my fics. I am not in ANY way fluent in ANY language beyond my native English. I took a year of French in primary school and half a year of Latin in secondary school, I also know a smidgin of Spanish from having some friends who speak it plus some Japanese from watching anime subs and picking up common termanology used in everything I've seen so far. 
> 
> I use Google translate which is the best free translation tool I can find. However I also know that it can be unreliable at times, if you are fluent in a language you see me using and spot a mistake please keep that in mind and be kind in your correction (and I would like to be corrected, I don't want to leave mistakes like that up in my fics). 
> 
> As for the translations I will be leaving a little notation next to the sentences that look like this "[T1]" then putting the translation to English in the note section at the bottom of the chapter. I got this idea from the wiki reference system and this is to interupt the flow of the story as little as possible. I will also do this for the few references I know I will be making
> 
> Also, I have the "Don't copy to another site" tag because of so shady things with another site, that being said my fanfiction dot net account still has what I orriginaly called Book 2 up because I wanted this story to still gain interest there. So yea.
> 
> Alright, now that that's all said, enjoy!

**Prologue- Something Wicked this way Comes through Visions and a Phoenix**  


**_================================================_ **

**_She was impeded by her own Shield charm; by the time she removed it he had already stormed into the night_ **

**_“He’s g-g-gone! Disapparated” [R1]_ **

**_================_ **

**_“Sure there’s no other way, sir?”_ **

**_“Dear boy, I fear other options are quite out of reach for now”_ **

**_“Bloody hell, what a mess one man can make”_ **

**_“Quite”_ **

**_“….alright sir, I’ll do it”_ **

\---------------

**Pain and loss**

**Discovery**

**Seeking Acceptance**

**Time passes, Days, Months, Years (7 Years most assuredly)**

**Multiple jolts of adrenaline as the time passes**

**Despair**

**An impending sense of dread.**

**Betrayal (though it was faint, as if smothered by something)**

**A resigned acceptance**

**Bone-deep cold**

**The ache of loss and love**

**A jolt of pain**

**Anger that, like the betrayal, is smothered by something**

**Waiting (Patience is Virtue after all)**

**A burst of adrenaline cutting through exhaustion**

**“AVADA KEDAVRA!”**

**“EXPELLIARMUS!”**

**Triumph**

**Love (Though this time it feels false)** ****

**\--------------------**

**“Oh this does not do, no this does not do at all……”**

**\--------------------**

_'What WAS that!?'_

Godric Gryffindor, age 20, had been wondering that all day. Thankfully, he had an expert Seer as a friend and uncle and was just awaiting his arrival. Speaking of which......

"Diwrnod da, Myr, sut wyt ti?"[T1] Godric greeted his long time friend Myrddin Emrys at the door of his home. 

"Godric, un ifanc, dwi'n iach, a chi?" [T2] Myriddin said cheerfully walking up to Godric

Godric sighed wearily as he embraced the man he saw as an uncle.

“Ddim yn dda mae gen i ofn. Breuddwyd…” [T3] Godric responded before leading Myrddin to the sitting room “Na, fe wnaeth bywyd fy nghadw i fyny hanner y nos”

After ensuring a house elf brought him and Myrddin some wine, Godric studied Myrddin for several minutes. Myrddin was silent the whole time for he knew his friend well. Godric usually got this way when he was in deep thought or trying to order his thoughts.

Sure enough after staring for a bit Godric blinked and sighed. 

"Y freuddwyd hon, rwy'n teimlo'n gryf ei bod yn un o ddyfodol pell. Roeddwn yn gobeithio y byddech yn fy helpu i weithio allan" [T4] Godric said, his voice a picture of exhaustion.

Myrddin paused in his tea sipping and lowered his cup to his lap calmly. While his sudo nephew was not classified as a true Seer, Godric did get the odd vision every now and again. However Myrrdin know that not all of this particular dream was a vision. The Lady had whispered to him that morning that some were memories.

“Dywedwch wrthyf, un ifanc, er mwyn imi ymgynghori'n well â M'lady" [T5] Myrddin said.

After a few moments of gathering his thoughts, Godric spoke "Y weledigaeth fwyaf byw oedd dyn ifanc â gwallt mor ddu â'r gigfran, llygaid emrallt symudliw, a'r Sowilo Rune wedi'i engrafio ar ei ael." [T6]

Here Godric paused and scrunched up his face while he focused on what he could recall of the next part. 

"Roedd yn ymladd yn erbyn ... wel dwi ddim yn hollol gadarnhaol y gallai 'dyn' gael ei ddefnyddio i'w ddisgrifio, byddai anghenfil yn ddisgrifiad mwy addas" the ginger haired man said slowly, trying to keep focused on the memory "Roedd yn ymladd yn erbyn ... wel dwi ddim yn hollol gadarnhaol y gallai 'dyn' gael ei ddefnyddio i'w ddisgrifio, dwi'n golygu y gallai fod amser maith yn ôl ers iddo gerdded ar 2 goes a chario ffon fel ni, ond fe ymddengys nad oes ganddo ddynoliaeth. Byddai anghenfil yn ddisgrifiad mwy addas i un tebyg iddo.” [T7] 

Myrrdin nodded, that was to be expected however motioned for his friend to continue.

“Beth bynnag, roedd y dyn ifanc hwn yn ymladd yr anghenfil hwn mewn castell, deffrais wrth i'r swyn olaf gwrdd yng nghanol maes eu brwydr. Er fy mod yn cofio llais yn dweud na fyddai'r canlyniad 'yn gwneud" [T8] Godric finished

Myrddin sat back in his seat and nodded. He would have to put on a show. It was not yet time for his young companion to remember what he was made to forget….

"Rhowch eiliad i mi sgwrsio â M'Lady, fe gewch eich ateb mewn eiliad." [T9] he said.

Godric nodded and motioned for Myrddin to continue.

As Godric watched Myrddin close his eyes and meditate, making sure to remain quiet, his mind drifted back to the white bearded man in his vision. In Godric's opinion 'Albus too-many-names Dumbledore' was just as much a monster as this Voldemort character. Albeit a different and in some ways more dangerous monster than the beast, but still........

' _f I was sent this vision for a reason. . . nay, I better hold my thoughts until Myrddin confirms or denies this_.'

A few minutes later Myrddin's eyes blinked open before looking straight at Godric. 

"Mae'n ymddangos bod angen i Lady Fate ein helpu ni i helpu'r dyn ifanc. Chi gyda'ch arweiniad a minnau gyda'm cronfeydd wrth gefn hudol" [T10] he said after a few moments of gathering his thoughts.

"Rwy'n gweld, mae'n ymddangos fy mod yn gywir yn fy rhagdybiaeth. Beth sydd angen i ni ei wneud i ddechrau?" [T11] Godric responded.

\------------

**“Are you sure this is wise Mother? We’ve not interfered so much before”**

**“I am sure. If your Grandfather doesn’t like it he can…..as the mortals put it, “suck it”**

**“Moooooooooom”**

\------------

Several days later, Godric and Myrddin arrived at what would later be called Stonehenge, the most magically saturated area in England. Godric found himself relieved, he had been worried that the local magical village wouldn’t allow them use of the site. But after having explained the situation to them, the locals, who were consequently Druids and thus believed in the balance of nature, agreed to allow them 2 time use of the site (it helped that Myrrdin was an honorary brother of the Druid’s leader) 

As Myrddin got the site set up for the ritual he was going to perform, Godric checked the supplies for the journey back to his house before checking the letter he was planning to send along with the charms on the parchment attached to the letter. He also checked over the package he intended to send with both parchments before nodding while looking at the pure white phoenix perched on his shoulder.

The phoenix had found Myrddin and Godric's camp just the other day. According to the Druids, she told them her name was Hedwig (why did that name ring so many bells and make his heart ache for the very boy they were attempting to help) and that her home had been the very time they were sending the letter too. She had been hit by the spell that Godric's own mentor had created (the traitorous swine). Her spirit had lingered for a time near where her body had lay. Fortunately, before she could decide to move on, a royal phoenix that she knew well had appeared to her.

Fawkes, the royal one's name, had asked her if she wanted to leave her boy. When Hedwig said no, Fawkes had given up his own life force to her, turning her into this phoenix (though that story didn’t ring true to her posture but Godric supposed she had reasons to keep the real story to herself). She said it took her a while to recover and when she did she had found herself in the current time period.

Since then she had been desperately searching for a way home and, after hearing from a few animals of 2 leg walkers who had been heard talking about time travel she had sought them out and had found them only a day's travel away from Stonehenge. After Godric heard that, he and Myrddin had worked on altering the ritual they had created to include sending a live creature through as well.

'Tis almost time lass, art thou ready to return to thy home?" Godric asked her softly in English for her benefit. 

The white one trilled a joyful note and then nuzzled Godric before letting out a lower more sorrowful note. She and Godric had become fast friends. They both also knew they would see each other again, even if that version of her might not remember him. 

''Tis alright lass, 'tis not farewell simply a temp'rary good bye." he said stroking her breast feather soothingly

"Godric, 'tis time," Myrddin said from his spot next to the ritual circle. Godric nodded and stroked Hedwig's breast feathers a few more times gently before handing her the letter and shrunk the package tying it to her leg. 

"Happy fortune to you lass, safe travels," he mumbled. 

She took the letter in her beak before heading over to the middle of the circle and settling down on the ground.

Both men got on either side of the circle and started chanting in Welsh, neither noticing the glow of the circle lighting the area. Both were busy picturing a young man that had raven black hair that stuck out at all angles of his head, bright emerald green almond shaped eyes, what looked like funny double eye monocles and most vividly, a lightning bolt shaped scar resting on his forehead in the center.

It took half of an hour and a lot of magic out of them both of them, but with a final trill that felt like a farewell and a brighter flash of light everything stilled. When Godric opened his eyes Hedwig was gone with her package. 'Good Fortune to you Hedwig,’ Godric thought as he looked quietly up at the sky his heart hoping beyond hope that it worked.

115 miles and 992 years away, a mopey, 17 year old Harry Potter jerked his gaze up from the spot at the tent table in front of him in surprise as a white phoenix appeared in a flash of sky blue light, perching on his lap and clutching in her beak 2 pieces of parchment and a package in her talons.

Hermione Granger, his best friend, came over to investigate though she seemed to drag herself. Ron’s desertion had hit her hard even though a week had passed since then.She slowly started perking up however as, after scanning it for dangerous spells, Harry gently took the letter from the phoenix and opened it, reading it out loud. 

“ _To the ones named Harry Potter and Hermione Granger,_

_I know you have heard of me, but allow me formally introduce myself. I am Godric Gryffindor. I take great risk in sending you this missive across the time stream, but I felt the risk was worth the cost that would have been paid if I hadn’t intervened._

_You see, currently I have recently reached my 20th year of life and, though I am not a true seer such as my friend Myrddin Emrys, who you all know as Merlin Ambrosius, I do get a dream vision at least once a year. This is important because several nights ago I had a dream vision of an entire lifetime, more specifically the lifetime of you, Harry James Potter. That includes past the point you get this letter._

_I’ll be frank, your friend Ronald does return to you before you go on to win the war you are currently fighting (only at the cost of more of your friends’ lives). However on the path you are on now he would hinder you more then help you. The other reason I send you this letter is because I have seen beyond that. You Harry, go on to work as an Auror, marry Ginerva and have 3 kids: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, and Lily Luna Potter._

_Hermione, you go onto marry Ronald and have 2 kids: Rose Weasley and Hugo Weasley, while working as the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It sounds glamorous, but it wasn’t without pain._

_I have sent you a set of books detailing the last 7 years you have gone through, including what is left from your current year that you haven’t experienced yet. These books are broken up based on the year number at Hogwarts. I acquired them myself from a fellow who likes to experiment with his spells and managed to pull them from a different dimension quite on accident (Yen Sid is the person who did this)._

_Anyways, it is my hope that you will send them to people in your immediate past for them to be read, perhaps allowing them to make different choices will change the future to make it better then it will currently be. Feel free to read what you have not experienced yet; I have marked the right book and the place you are at currently in your journey._

_Whether you decide to send these books back or not, I wanted to personally let you in on more of my own interference. I plan on pulling both of you along with Neville Longbottom from when you were 7 and 8 years old. With Myrddin's help, I will train you up and return you to your own time in the summer before your first year. I am letting you know this because it will change your younger selves (they will have a different upbringing after all). However, Myrddin tells me that it might erase your current selves. I also ask that you send back research, as you will have to develop your own time travel spell. I dare not write ours down, as we're already treading on dangerously thin ice messing with time like this._

_If you agree, I have provided a parchment which I have charmed to, as Myrddin put it, "break the barriers of time". You can communicate directly to me with it. But use it only when you have need to speak to me, as I do not know how long the charms will last being that it and I are not in the same time period. I would also suggest that you read the marked book first before you tell me your decision on your help._

_That’s all I have to say here. I hope to be able to speak with you soon,_

_Godric Gryffindor_

_P.S: This beautiful white phoenix came to us on our way to Stonehenge where we would send this letter off. She told some Druids that her name is Hedwig and that she wanted to go home to her...ahem, "chick" as she put it. I will let her tell you._

_\------------------------_

Immediately dropping the letter Harry’s arms wrapped around Hedwig pulling her too his chest and hugging her his eyes tearing up.

“H-HEDWIG” He sobbed with relief.

He’d never felt so happy before. His beloved familiar had been struck down defending him on the flight from Number 4 and he had been unable to recover her body to give her and himself closure. Hedwig cooed lovingly, nudging her head into the crook of his neck happily, she’d been so worried for her chick so she was glad to be back at his side.

Next to them Hermione smiled a bit, distracting herself with the letter. She was a bit happier seeing her friend get a spot of happiness and hope in these dark times. 

Rereading the letter Hermione had to shake her head. It seemed impossible but then again, she reminded herself, it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing they’d ever experienced so it was simple to push the shock away.

"......This is certainly a shock," Hermione mumbled out loud “Although it’s not the craziest thing we’ve come across” 

Harry let out a watery bark of a laugh and sniffled out into the feathers on Hedwig’s head not seeming to want to let her go any time soon, “Understatement of the century

"Ah, here Hedwig dear, let me take the package from you," Hermione said, setting the letter down and moved to untie the shrunken package. 

Hedwig held out her leg, seeming to smile at Hermione as the girl untied the package and planted a kiss on top of Hedwig's head.

"Glad to have you back girl," the brunette said, before planting another on Harry’s forehead right on his scar then before backing off. 

Unshrinking and unwrapping the package, she searched through the books until she found the one Godric had marked, flipping it open to the bookmarked section. She then read the chapter title and groaned.

"Harry, you might want to come read this with me," she sighed tiredly. 

Harry looked up at her and moved to see what she meant, allowing Hedwig to perch on his shoulder .

Peering over her shoulder his eyebrows rose in surprise

_Chapter 16, Godric's Hollow [R2]_

The pair was silent, staring at the chapter name for a bit, then exchanged a look. Harry had brought up wanting to go visit his parent’s graves just the day before. It appears they might have according to this book.

"I think we had better get reading Hermione. This is a pretty long book," Harry said cautiously. 

Hermione nodded and looked back at the book as she read it out loud.

_"When Harry woke the following day it was several seconds before he remembered what happened..." [R3]_

\------------------

Several days and a move to the Forest of Dean later found them just finishing the book.

"Remus, Tonks, Fred, Collin...even Lavender and Sn...Severus," Harry mumbled in shock.

"Plus uncounted others we don’t know," Hermione took a deep breath and turned to Harry, a decision having clearly been made in her mind "I think we should help Godric. Even if we erase our whole current time line, this is too big for us to just ignore."

Harry nodded and Hermione caught a determined glint lit up his eyes.

"I agree, Hermione, if for nothing else but Teddy having his parents still around when he goes to Hogwarts in the new timeline," he said confidently.

"Harry, it might not even happen in the new timeline," Hermione mumbled quietly. 

Harry considered this then nodded, his voice quiet as he replied "True, but the way I see it is that if someone else made a choice like that for me, I think I'd want them to erase my existence rather than live without my parents."

Nodding absentmindedly, Hermione picked up the enchanted parchment from the table.

"I was having trouble believing it before, but Godric Gryffindor really seems to have broken the barriers of time and contacted us. What’s our decision, Harry?" she said looking at the former Gryffindor seeker. 

Harry stared at the book they had just finished reading, contemplating the situation before looking up at Hermione, a clear decision having been made in his mind.

"I think we should help him. But I think we should let the Weasleys, Remus, and Tonks know what’s going on. It wouldn’t be fair to them for us to decide this before erasing our entire reality with them being unaware of what’s going on," he responded after a few moments of silence. 

Nodding, his friend spoke up, her voice quiet as she replied.

"I completely agree with that. It really wouldn’t be fair to them. But how do we get the message out? I mean we ARE in the middle of a war, kinda hard to have an assured secure method of sending and reciving letters and packages"

Hedwig chirped to gain their attention before holding out her leg for them. Harry smiled before petting her.

"Good idea girl, you could take them right to them via Flash Fire."

Half an hour later, 7 similar packs of letters appeared from a ball of fire in front of their recipients. Each package contained a copy of the letter from Godric to explain most of it, along with a letter from Harry and Hermione and a copy of the marked section of the book they had been reading.

\----------------

Fred and George Weasley were the first to read over Harry and Hermione's letter, having received it late that night in their hide-a-way.

  
  


_Dear Gred and Forge,_

_I know it’s been several months now, but we're still alive and kicking. We (that is to say Hermione and I; Ronald took off on us and we don’t know where he is) ask you to keep most of these things off Potterwatch. If You-Know-Who (ack, I should wash my mouth out with soap) were to catch wind of this, it could put a major chink in our plans._

_I’m writing to you two in order to let you know that a mutual friend is messing with time. The changes they're making will most likely erase everything as it is now. Everything from the summer before Hermione and I’s first year at Hogwarts up to now will all be erased if this gamble works._

_We've got two reasons to let you know this. One is that we feel it would be unfair to you to make this decision and leave you unprepared. The other reason…well, part of it is explained in the other letter in this package. That letter is a copy of what Hermione and I got from our mutual friend. And the other thing in the package is also explained in the other letter, we made sure to highlight the relevant sections of that._

_If you agree to help us, could you send us any text book and research notes on spells and potions you can get your hands on? Thanks. After you've read the other letter you'll know who to call if you decide to help us._

_Thank you,_

_H.J.P._

"Well brother mine, looks like we have a way to cause some chaos on our hands, brought to us by our lil’ bro, the Boy-who-Lived himself," George stated, a mischievous smile on his face. Fred nodded in response, an excited tone in his voice.

"It seems our secret investor and Miss G could use our help. Do we agree to help them no matter what we read in this other letter?" They both grinned for the first time in months and answered together.

"Let’s do it!"

A day or two later found them calling for Hedwig and practically shoving a charmed pouch full of their old Hogwarts textbooks and research notes, along with a letter at her as they spoke in unison.

"Hedwig darling, be a dear and bring these to them please."

\-----------

While Molly and Arthur, Remus and Tonks, Bill and Fleur, Minerva (together with Fillius and Poppy), and Charlie all got pretty much the same letters as the twins and responded much the same way. A certain potions master had received his letter in a more tenuous manner however. Severus, due to his precarious situation, received his letter/package the next night in his private quarters.

_Dear Severus,_

_Sir, forgive me for my arrogance and for doubting you. It will never happen again, I swear it on my life and magic. With that said, I'll keep this simple._

_I’m writing to you in order to let you know that a mutual friend is messing with time. The changes they're making will most likely erase everything as it is now. Everything from the summer before Hermione and I’s first year at Hogwarts up to now will probably all be erased if this gamble works._

_We've got two reasons to let you know this. One is that we feel it would be unfair to you to make this decision and leave you unprepared. The other reason…well, part of it is explained in the other letter in this package. That letter is a copy of what Hermione and I got from our mutual friend. And the other thing in the package is also explained in the other letter, we made sure to highlight the relevant sections of that._

_If you agree to help us, could you send us any text book and research notes on spells and potions you can get your hands on? Thanks. After you've read the other letter you'll know who to call if you decide to help us._

_That’s what we've told the others who we've sent letters to. But due to your precarious position sir, I'd like to add (probably unnecessarily, but better safe than sorry) that it would be better if you destroyed all of this after you've memorized the contents of this package so that it doesn’t fall into "You-know-Who's" hands._

_As this will most likely be the final time we communicate, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me and for my mother. As bad as what you did to her in your 5th year was, you've more than made up for it. I hope in this new timeline that you and I can get better acquainted._

_Sincerely,_

_H.J.P._

  
  


Severus Snape sighed in annoyance before settling his resolve. After reading over the letter a few more times to memorize it, he quickly proceeded to burn it before moving onto the next letter. At this, his face paled as he read Godric's letter, (frowning as he did, that handwriting looked oddly familiar though he couldn’t figure out where he’d seen it before) before repeating the memorization process and burning it while shoving the information deep behind his occlumency barriers. With this complete, he finally settled down to read the thick book Potter had sent him.

  
  


Several nights later found him calling for Potter's phoenix to send copies of all of his potion books and notes (plus some Dark Arts and Occlumency books) to Potter and Granger, along with a note of his own.

"Bird, please wish them luck for me," he whispered quietly. "Let him know that I am sorry for the way I've always treated him, alright?"

Hedwig tilted her head and suddenly wrapped her wings around him as if hugging him, before trilling softly while flashing away. Severus watched the spot where she had vanished for some time before sitting down and sighing, summoning a shot glass and a bottle of fire whiskey to himself before pouring himself a shot.

"Potter......no, Harry," he mumbled to himself while raising the glass in a cheer. "Here's to hoping this gamble pays off for the betterment of our future." 

With that, he got up and headed to his chambers, the moment of Hedwig's trill lingering in his mind.

\----------

 **_Harry and_ ** **Hermione,**

 **_Bad luck mates, with Ron running off like that_ ** **. Yeah; if we live to see him again, we'll ream him out for you…(although strangely he hasn’t turned back up at home.** **_One would think that bottomless stomach of his would demand he get a decent sized meal) If you haven’t done it for yourselves that is._ ** **Anyways, onto more serious matters.**

 **_We read the whole book (not just the marked section), and bloody hell mates, you have a lot on your plates huh?_ ** **Harry, in all seriousness, we always thought you and Hermione would end up together.** **_Yeah, Fred and I were talking about it and we think at least Mum slipped you two a mickey so to speak in some misguided attempt to bring our family out of poverty._ ** **That is to say, she slipped some love potion into your drinks, most likely with Ron’s help considering he’s always looking for ways to gain attention from everyone and their mothers. That’s not to say either are bad people. Just severely misguided, Mum’s not been the same since our Uncles, Fabbion and Giddeon, died and Ron’s just never been in a right state of mind for life’s obstacles.**

 **_In any case further research on possible love potions found that it’s most likely Amortentia, the most powerful love potion ever._ ** **Some of its side effects match both of your worsening moods since your 5th year (for Harry) and last year (for Hermione).**

**Others include:**

**_-Appearing sickly and pale (_ ** **no offence mates, but you two did seem rather pale last year and the year before** **_);_ **

**_-Becoming obsessed with the object of their affections (_ ** **Hermione, don’t deny you were feeling jealous when the idiot was dating Lavender, and Harry, we know you kissed Ginny last year** **_);_ **

**_-And most importantly, becoming excited or dangerously unstable towards others_** **(No offense you two, but we heard about Harry chasing down Snape to curse him after Dumbledore died[R4], and Hermione, we heard you blew up a few times at Won-Won because of his relationship with Lavender.** ** _Even attacking him with a conjured flock of birds[R5])._**

**_What’s more, our theory about the love potion could be proven right by two passages in the book you sent us._ **

**_Passage 1: "Your mother confessed," sneered Riddle-Harry,_ ** **(Disturbing by the way)** **_while Riddle-Hermione_ ** **(Again, disturbing)** **_jeered "that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange..."[R6]_ **

**_Passage 2: "...I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods........" [R7]_ **

**Obviously, George and I would be delighted to have you two as brother and sister for real, but we both know it will never happen.** **_However, Mum has confessed to at the very least to making, if not using, a love potion before.[R8]_ ** **The love potions that are on our shelves at the shop are one-day use only, and we make sure to control the sales of them so they're only used in jest (as all love potions should be).** **_Harry, what Riddle will say to Ron is true; Mom did admit to wishing you were her son, rather than Ron._ ** **And Hermione, it’s obvious Ron has feelings for you. In fact, we'd say the ONLY way you specifically would fall for little Ronnikins would be through a love potion.**

 **_As for the 2nd passage, that’s suspicious too. Why would Ron spend time looking for you two when he can come straight home? We still have the Ghoul in the attic disguised as a Spattergroit-infected Ron parading around the house[R9], so it wouldn’t be too hard to slip inside Disillusioned and switch places with it......._ ** **Unless he's under orders from mum to keep you two dosed to high heaven, as we doubt the prat has enough of a guilty conscience to feel bad about leaving you.** **_Points to him for the good act though! As for Miss Ginevra, we're unclear about her involvement._ ** **We can only hope she is unknowing of these love potions, and that she would be disapproving if she ever found out.** **_We'd really hate to have to hate our little spitfire because of her own bad decisions._ **

**Anyways, we could go on and on about our suspicions. We just wanted to give you some food for thought.** **_Two more things: A) Among all the notes that we provided, there should be letters to Dad and us in the past;_ ** **we'd really appreciate it if you could see to it that they get them somehow.** **_B) No matter what happens from here on out you two_ ** **, know that Gred and Forge Weasley will always support Mr. Lightning and Miss Flare.**

**TTFN you two,**

**Gred**

**_Forge_ **

**P.S.: Mr. Moony let us know before the first Potterwatch broadcast of the new Mauraders.** **_We're undertaking the prestigious honor of joining them. Toodles._ **

**_P.S.S: This is a last minute thing: if Fred and I are right about Ron and Mum, then you might want to check all your items for tracking charms. We don't buy that bull honkey about Ron using the De-luminator to find you [R10]._ **

\------------

Harry chuckled as he read the twin's letter. It had been a week since he and Hermione had sent out letters requesting help from some of their allies. Since then, he and Hermione had come up with a tentative plan and had relayed it to Godric via the charmed parchment, and were waiting on a response.

In the meantime, they had already started on the plan. Hermione had gone (under disguise) to Diagon Alley, and bought 2 multi-compartment trunks like Alastor Moody's. Since returning with them, Hermione had been examining the magic of the trunks to see if more magic could be added, being that she was the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy expert (She had said, and Harry quite agreed, that an untrained person shouldn’t be creating and experimenting with spells and potions).

Harry, on the other hand, had been the one to start looking through the abundance of notes the twins had sent, marking down the ideas and topics that looked useful. It was a few days later that he spotted a folded parchment on the floor, something he noticed as he was headed over see if Hermione made any progress.

For an hour each night before bed, they had also been practicing Occlumency. After talking it over, Hermione had convinced him to try it again, despite his misgivings about the whole practice. Her logic? He should do so if for nothing else but to keep Voldemort’s anger-induced visions away. Thankfully, the twins had sent a few books on Occlumency; they had written on the inside of one of the covers that they did have a mental link between them, but hearing each other's thoughts ALL the time had gotten rather annoying. As a result, they had asked their parents during their fourth birthday if there was a way to block each other out. Dumbledore had been there, had overheard them, and was enthusiastic about taking them on as Occlumency apprentices.

"Well, that explains why he wouldn’t teach me in Snape's place," Harry had said when they read that. "He already had apprentices."

Hermione looked over at him from the trunks, his sudden chuckle disrupting the monotone silence of the tent which they had lived in for months. Seeing that he was taking a break she smiled and returned to her work

Just then a soft chime signaled Hedwig incoming with more letters and possible research notes. Harry went over to her as she flashed onto the table, before untying the packages from her legs and giving her a treat.

"Thanks girl, is this everyone?" he said, stroking her head gently.

Hedwig trilled and nodded, spreading her wings a bit before pointing to the charmed parchment laying on the table next to her with one of her wings. Harry blinked before his eyes lit up.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed excitedly, as he watched words forming on the parchment. "Godric is writing back to us!"

Hermione came rushing over, and they both sat down, watching the parchment as a lengthy letter appeared on it.

_Harry and Hermione,_

_I am unfortunately not Godric. I am Myrddin Emrys. I am the one writing you currently because on our journey back home, Godric was bitten by a Runespoor. The poor dear thought he was trying to steal her eggs from her nest. Do not fear for Godric; I was able to pull the poison out in time to save his life. He is currently sleeping comfortably. He was, however, overjoyed to see that you had written back to him so quickly, and even more ecstatic to learn that you agreed to help him, despite the risks you place on yourselves in messing with time._

_He has asked me to pose a question to you. He would like to know what you want your younger selves to do about various people around you. In particular, he wants to know about Hagrid with his natural inclination to follow Mister Dumbledore blindly, while Ms. Minerva and Madam Poppy quite possibly might need to be obliviated. Severus (as you might know) made an oath, most likely to Albus Dumbledore in order to protect Harry. I do not know why, but Lady Fate has pointed out to me to tell you that there is also Molly Weasley to consider (you need not worry about Ronald, I have set something up to help him). She said you would know what I mean._

_She also pointed out to me that it might be prudent to write a few letters to those who you will summon. Godric wishes you were here already; he's getting a bit jittery because he wants to get started. Honestly, that man can never stay patient for very long._

_Anywho, that’s all I was told to speak with you of._

_Myrddin Emrys_

The duo was silent for a few minutes as they pondered the information. Then Harry looked at Hermione quizzically, a question quickly forming in his mind.

"How far are you with that trunk?"

"Oh, I've actually got a good list of modified spells that will work with the enchantments already on there," she said airily. "The problem is...well, to be quite honest, I don’t have the right amount of power to cast the more powerful ones..."

Harry blinked in surprise, before replying, "Ok, what can I do to help?".

"Well," Hermione began. "Since you're able to block...You-Know-Who now, maybe you can draw pure magical energy from him and use that to perform these spells."

Harry looked thoughtful, then shook his head before replying mildly.

"I've got a better idea. Why don’t we go to Stonehenge like Godric and Merlin did? I've been reading about it, and apparently the nearby abandoned wizarding village has a structure there that’s sentient like Hogwarts and the sorting hat. It’s been feeding magic to Stonehenge ever since the Druids who lived there abandoned the place."

"Ok," Hermione agreed, her expression twisting into a slightly miffed look. "But how does that help me with my lack of power for our spells?"

"Well, and now this is just an idea 'Mione," Harry hedged watching her carefully "Why don't we use some basic magic strengthening rituals on you?"

"On us you mean," Hermione interrupted, looking thoughtful as she spoke. "Although, you're pretty powerful as is, Harry. Sirius told me you were unusually powerful as a baby, to the point that your mum and dad had to place magical blocks on you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself or expose your family to the Mundane. It should have been removed when you were starting your magical training, meaning just before first year started. I don’t remember you saying they had been removed though, and with the things we've been discovering about Dumbledore, I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept them on you to keep you magically weakened. Do you want me to scan for and remove them?"

Harry had smiled when she had said Mundane; they had had a talk about non-magicals in general, and had both agreed that the word muggle was a derogatory term, much like the word "Mudblood" is; made up by purebloods to marginalize non-magicals. Harry shook himself out of his thoughts and nodded at Hermione, before beginning to reply.

"Yes, please. If Dumbledore is up to his old tricks, then I want to know."

Hermione took out her wand and waved it over him, muttering "Quaerite ita restringenda magicae [T12]”.

Harry felt like a warm blanket had brushed over him and blinked a bit, watching as Hermione nodded a bit before starting to speak her results.

"Definitely up to his old tricks, there are quite a few on you...actually, I’m surprised you still have magic! Let’s see if I can identify them," she said, waving her wand again. "COGNOSCO ita restringenda magicae [T13]".

"Hmm, some of these are old," she muttered, while seemingly watching something just above his head. "Let’s see…one definitely from when you were nearly a year old. Looks professionally done, most likely by a healer your parents hired to perform the blocks. Another at age five..."

Harry was shocked into silence. He remembered the bout of accidental magic when he was five; he had been bored with the class, as he had already studied the content being talked about (he was, after all, bright as a child; he would just get punished for being better then Dudley), and so to liven up his boring day, he had begun to imagine the teacher's wig was blue. The next thing he knew, all the strands of hair on her wig had begun to turn blue. ' _The color change charm,_ ' he thought idly. He and the class had had a good laugh but then...a blank in his memory, until he found himself at home in his cupboard. ' **_A possible Obliviation?'_ **his mind's voice provided gently. Oblivious to his thoughts Hermione had continued speaking.

"Another at age eight..."

Again Harry's mind went to when he was eight, and he remembered the shrinking sweater incident ('Yuck, really! What was Aunt Petunia thinking? Brown with orange puffballs, indeed!' he again thought idly to himself). He had accidently used a shrinking charm that time. But again, he had a small gap in his memory. That very same day at school, he had gone outside for their hour lunch break, but the next thing he remembered he was walking back into school after lunch. 'Another possible obliviation?'

"Huh, another block placed the very next day. This one is specialized, unlike the others...to block Metamorphmagus abilities," Hermione said screwing up her face in concentration.

Harry remembered that incident too. Both of them had occurred around his school's picture day, and Aunt Petunia had apparently made it her personal mission to try and get him to look decent for his turn (not that either attempt had worked anyways). Yet again there was another gap in his memory, this one of about two hours.

"And there were four more, well actually, the third one looks like a leech from your scar; that one’s got to be the horcrux..." she shook her head, shaking off the thought for the moment. "Number four you broke with the ah...training that Moony gave us. That one was placed on you at the same time as the Metamorphmagus one. Number five was several months later at school, the September after you turned nine, this one is specialized too. To block a natural apparition ability."

Harry nodded, that one had to be his second favorite bout of accidental magic. Of course, it was marred by the terror that Dudley and the gang had been 'Harry Hunting' at the time.

"The last one, number six," she said in a more furious voice. "Was placed on you the evening of June 23rd just a month and a few days before you turned Eleven."

"Dudley's birthday," Harry muttered for the first time in several minutes, remembering the incident well. He coughed as she watched him curiously before replying. "We were at the zoo, and he and his friend pushed me to the ground to get a better look at the boa constrictor I had been talking to. I guess one of them saw it responding to me. Er, well, I was upset and a little bit bruised from hitting the ground so hard, so I, unknowingly at the time, cast the vanishing charm on the pane of glass between them and the snake. Dudley had actually been leaning on the glass so he actually fell into the enclosure, and when he went to try to get out after the snake had slithered out he found the glass had returned. I guess I unconsciously willed it back into existence."

Harry was blushing furiously when he finished, knowing he was rambling out of embarrassment. Hermione smiled a bit indulgently at him and Harry blushed more, this time for a completely different reason. ' _How have I not noticed before how nice Hermione looks when she smiles,_ ' he thought. ' _You weren't trying to step on little Ron's toes,_ ' the little voice in his head whispered, sounding oddly like both Fred and George. ' _But now that he's gone and you don’t plan on letting him find you just so he can drug you both again, you're able to appreciate her without worry._ '

Harry quite agreed with the voice, but made his mind focus back to the present.

"A-Anyway, you said I have blocks, and they all coincide with gaps in my memory. Isn’t that the usual sign of an Obliviation?" At this, Hermione looked troubled and nodded.

"Yes, um, let me think," she said, falling silent for a few minutes before speaking up once more, only slowly. "Er, well, I think it’s a safe bet that if we try to remove them all at once, it will cause a magical explosion, killing you and-depending on how powerful-anyone within several hundred miles of you. So if we remove them one by one, slowly and carefully to allow your body to get used to the amount of power you have, then you should be ok. The magical backlash should also eradicate the obliviations on you. As for the leech, its most likely Voldemort's horcrux feeding magic from you to him. If we look hard enough, we might be able to find something to pull it out of you without killing you."

Harry nodded, thinking over what he was told before replying.

"Let’s take the oldest block off me and go from there."

Hermione simply waved her wand over him and said in a clear voice "Aufer restriccione in contrarium inde magica [T14]".

Harry felt unbelievable pain, but tried to focus his breathing through it. 'This is nothing like one of Voldemort's Crucios,' he thought with humor. 'It doesn’t come anywhere close to that.' Noticing that Hermione was watching him worriedly, he reached over and stroked the back of her hand gently.

"I'm ok 'Mione, this is nothing like one of You-Know-Who's Crucios. It’s really miniscule compared to that," he said with an encouraging smile.

The next second however, he felt a stabbing headache forming. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with his scar this time. As he had slowly built up his Occlumency walls, he made absolutely sure to block off the mental connection to Voldemort. He hadn't had a nightmare nor felt any of Voldemort's feelings since he had done so, back when both he and Hermione had started practicing Occlumency.

This particular headache came from the broken obliviation that had went with the block on him. He took a moment to focus, before closing his eyes and starting to sort the new memories. But the more he sorted, the angrier he got. 'Dumble-arse' was lucky he was already dead or Harry would have applauded Severus and joined him in killing the old bastard.

Harry was so wrapped up in his memories that he didn’t notice what was going on around him. It wasn’t until he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and heard Hermione's voice in his ear that he noticed the whirlwind of power echoing around him.

"Harry, calm down. Please?"

Relaxing slowly, he re-opened his eyes and blinked sheepishly. All around him, the papers he had been studying were scattered, while there were deep gouges in the table in front of him as if a huge bird had been clawing at the table. Hedwig had positioned herself on his lap and was nuzzling him, trilling softly with her feathers sticking up slightly, but appeared otherwise unharmed.

"Harry, what’s wrong?" Hermione asked from behind him.

He tried to turn his head to look at her, but she kept her face out of his line of sight. Letting it go for the moment, he focused on her question before replying.

"Dumbledore, the old coot! That obliviation was done by him right after the attack on my parent's house," he said, rubbinge power his head. "He purposely obliviated any memories of my parents. I only remembered how they died because he made sure to leave those intact in my mind."

Hermione hugged him tighter before replying, her voice quiet.

"We won’t let that happen again to your younger self. We'll let Godric and Merlin know about it and they'll definitely make sure that your younger self has all his memories by the time they return for first year."

Harry nodded a bit and sighed, relaxing into her embrace before replying.

"I also was supposed to have an eidetic memory. But since I didn’t have a chance to develop it, it’s an ability lost to me as an adult."

"Again, won’t happen," Hermione mumbled while nuzzling his back.

Harry slowly got control of his emotions, before his nose picked up the metallic scent of blood. Blinking and gulping, he couldn’t help but feel upset over what the implications were. He had hurt her.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I hurt you," he mumbled miserably.

"Relax Harry, It’s only a thin scratch," she mumbled. " _Episkey_. Anyways, we've still got a lot to do. I'll help you research tonight, and in the morning we can set off for Stonehenge. Er, we'll actually have to be traveling since I've never been there before."

"You mean Hermione Granger, the great explorer of the world, has never been to Stonehenge?" Harry said teasingly.

Hermione smiled and tapped his shoulder playfully with a giggle "Oh, quiet you. Let’s get started."

They both pulled a few books over and started looking through them. 

\--------------

_Lightning and Flare,_

_Thank God! I was really starting to worry for you two. I’m sorry to hear that Ronald's run off, the prat! The twins contacted me about their suspicions about love potions being used on you two. Needless to say I wrote a long letter to Arthur and asked Hedwig to take it to him when he was alone. He responded back saying he was definitely going to confront Molly about it, and asked us all to keep an eye out for Ronald. If he finds you two, Arthur immediately wants you to give him the Howler attached. I really wish I could be there to see the prat's face when he gets it. Oh and don’t worry, Arthur keyed the Howler to go off only if touched by Ronald's magical signature, so it’s safe for you to touch it._

_As to your plan, as much as it terrifies me that a) you two are doing this on your own, and b) that I, my wife, and my son as we exist now might be erased because people are messing with time, I completely understand your reasoning. I also know that no matter what version of me your younger selves ends up with, that I'll always support you both and I couldn’t be more proud of you two for making the tough decision rather than the easy one. But just to be sure of my younger self, could you make sure that he gets the sealed letter I've attached?_

_One last thing, I've shown everything to Nym and Andi and both of them have agreed, if we do survive to continue fighting until the Battle of Hogwarts, Nym and I intend to pull through to see our son grow up._

_On a lighter note, its quite obvious to us where things are going between you two. Insert one of my chuckles here if you must, but Nym and I also intend to survive things to see Mssr. Lighting and Mssr. Flare wed and live a happy life together. The day that happens, I'm sure Mssr. Prongs, Mssr. Padfoot and Mssr. Lily-Flower (the unofficial Maurader) will be right there with us and probably be crying happy tears of joy._

_Anyways, sappy thoughts aside, don't ever forget the Marauder creed you two:_

_"Habebimus Chao! [T15]"_

_All my love and worry for you as the last elder Marauder,_

_Mssr. Mooney_

Harry blushed a bit at the end of reading Remus's letter out loud before looking up at Hermione, who was also blushing

"D-Do you think that Mooney and the twins are trying to tell us something?" he asked sheepishly.

"Perhaps," Hermione chuckled quietly while moving a bit closer to him.

It had been a few weeks since they had left the Forest of Dean, there had actually been no sign of Ron but Harry had woken one morning to find Hedwig fiddling with the Deluminator having accidentally opened the howler too. She wouldn’t tell them where it had come from except to say that Ron was in a place where he’d never get the howler and had no use for it anyways.

Hermione and Harry, despite being upset with Ron still exchanged worried glances at this statement. He was still their friend after all, but unable to do anything for him they opened the howler to see what was written in it. 

" **_RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!"_ ** the howler had begun (minus the voice) " **_HOW COULD YOU DRUG YOUR TWO BEST FRIENDS, AND WITH LOVE POTIONS NO LESS! YOU'VE SHAMED OUR FAMILY NAME WITH SUCH AN ACT! AT LEAST FRED AND GEORGE ARE RESPONSIBLE WITH THE LOVE POTIONS THEY HAND OUT TO PEOPLE! YOU ARE TO BRING YOURSELF STRAIGHT HOME YOUNG MAN, WHERE YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD!"_ **

**_Harry, Hermione, despite my son’s actions I hope you can forgive us. I don’t know where I went wrong with him. As a show of good faith, I questioned Ginny under Veritaserum that Professor Snape had left for the Order. Ginny had no idea about the love potions and hopes that if we survive what’s coming she can still remain your friend at the very least. She also said to tell you that if our timeline doesn't survive, she hopes your younger selves will be her friend. As I was writing this, I got the strange feeling you two are going to involve my younger self in what you're doing....... If you do, can you give him, er me (gosh this will get confusing), the letter I attached to this howler?....."_ **

It was at this point Harry and Hermione had exchanged a confused glance but returned to what the letter was saying.

  
  


**_"Anyways, I should wrap this up so I can go try and figure out what my wife is doing now that I'm not watching her. Remember Ronald! Straight home, no wandering around!"_ **

Another letter was hidden in the envelope with the howler. It was addressed to Arthur himself, it must have been for the younger one.

After that Hermione had examined the De-luminator. She had quickly determined that there were no spells on it that would allow a ball of light to lead someone to them ("Honestly, that would have to be an incredibly long spell, almost ritualistic."). They had then checked their possessions and found tracking spells with Albus, Molly and Ron's magical signature on them (though Ron's spells were all incredibly flimsy, just barely holding onto the items and were easily removed).

A number of things had taken place after that. Hermione, for one, had managed to remove all of the blocks and memory modifications on Harry within two weeks. It had baffled Hermione that Harry managed to recover from the magical backlash of one and get a hold of the freed magic contained behind each block within two days.

" _It’s not normal!"_ she had complained after he had recovered from the third block/obliviation.

That is until Harry pointed out that nothing was ever normal around him. She conceded that point with a pout. ' _A cute pout,'_ Harry had mused to himself.

In the time that half of the blocks and Obliviations were removed, Harry had started helping Hermione with the trunk she had been working on. A practice trunk, to be more precise.

"We absolutely can’t mess this up," Hermione had said when he asked about the second trunk she had bought. "The second trunk is for practice."

Harry couldn’t fault her there, as they had a lot riding on this plan. Of course, when he wasn’t providing power for the Runes Hermione drew on the practice trunk or casting the needed spells on it to see how the different Runes and spells reacted to each other, he was working on his own secret project. He had finally finished marking all the books and notes for important topics that Godric could teach their younger selves and young Neville.

As for Neville, Harry had always wondered about him. Before Hogwarts, Neville would have been a friend that Harry would have been proud to stand by. But Fate seemed to place Ron in his path, and Ron tended to chase any other potential friends away. Harry doubted that even Hermione would have gotten close to him if he hadn’t been thoughtful of her well-being on Halloween in first year. All because Ronald the black hole for food was downright disrespectful to everyone who even gave Harry a glance.

Harry's thoughts wandered back to Neville. If their timeline survived, he'd definitely have to get to know Neville better. ' _And Luna too,'_ he thought to himself, picturing the blonde-haired dreamer in his mind.

"Harry," Hermione said from across the tent, where she had moved back to the trunks to examine them again. "I think you're ready to handle the real trunk now."

Harry got up and went over to her, before taking out his wand and speaking up once more.

"Hermione, are you sure? I know this is important."

"Yes Harry, we both know you work better under pressure," she said, handing him the list of spells they had thought would be of best use to them.

Harry nodded and went over the list again. 'Undetectable Extension charm for bigger rooms for everyone to sleep in, modified Fidelis for safety, Bluebell Flames for light and even more than that. I'd better get started,' he thought to himself, before raising his wand.

An hour later found a satisfied Harry sitting on a bench at their food table, drinking some water while Hermione examined his work. Hermione turned to him and smiled widely, making him blush slightly.

"Harry you did brilliantly, um........what did you tie them to though? They aren’t attached to the trunk," she said curiously, an eyebrow raised in confusion. 

At this, Harry stood and motioned for her to follow him before speaking once more. 

"I know you were worried about how the trunk would handle all the spells by itself, so I've been working on something myself.”

As he led her over to a pair of covered objects, she visibly brightened.

"Your projects!" She gushed excitedly. Harry smiled at her indulgently and nodded as he responded.

"Yes."

With that, he put his hand on the cloth of one and pulled it away. Standing there on an easel was a portrait of an older Hermione sitting on a bench by the shore of the Great Lake in the sun. It portrayed her with part of her chocolate brown hair braided and tied up, while the rest hung down around her shoulders. Among the locks of her hair, Harry had added some dark red highlights. Her skin, rather than the pale it was currently, was a nice sun-kissed tan color, and she was dressed in a nice periwinkle blue sundress. She looked like she had just returned to Hogwarts from a shorter-than-usual summer vacation. Hermione was extremely shocked, surely she wasn’t the Goddess that stood in front of her. The portrait was surrounded by a silver frame, with the frame actually carved into four copies of the same familiar looking bird. 'Right down to her markings,' she thought, as a grateful smile crept onto her face.

"Harry, you really did this?" she whispered, still staring at the peaceful expression on the portrait's face.

"Yeah, it’s not really professional, but I made portraits of us both. I was researching how to animate them; I figure if we animate them, then they can act as the control mechanism for the trunk," he said as he smiled at her, then noticing her look added "And yes, you are that beautiful."

Hermione blushed and looked up at him with a smile before turning her attention back to the portrait, examining the frame Harry has surrounded it with. After touching it, she could tell it was made at least partially of silver. On closer examination she also noticed that he had carved otters and a few birds into it among a bunch of runes that matched what they had put on the trunk.

"This is extremely well detailed," she mumbled almost to herself, then she looked up at him before continuing. "Harry James Potter, you are a very handsome and very talented man. Why did you not tell me you could do this?!"

Despite her hard tone, Harry could tell she was more amused then mad and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Y-You really think I'm talented? And handsome?" he mumbled sheepishly, an embarrassed blush emerging on his face.

"Of course," Hermione said with a laughing tone. "Anyone who can paint me to be a Goddess like this is extremely talented."

Harry blushed at that statement and walked over. Hugging her and holding her hands, he looked into her eyes before speaking up once more.

"Hermione Jean Granger, don’t ever doubt that you are a goddess, you beautiful, wonderful woman," he said, kissing her forehead. "I've decided, if we survive to see Voldemort's end, I fully intend to ask you out."

It was Hermione's turn to blush and smile. Perhaps there was hope to survive the coming destruction. Turning her attention to the other covered sheet, she peeked under it and blinked.

"Harry," she said looking at him. "What about this one? What’s wrong with it?"

"Erm..." Harry began. "I-It’s just that every time I try to make a painting of myself, I always think of myself as a pathetic child..."

Hermione stopped him with a kiss on the lips. It was so sudden that Harry stood there blinking dumbly for a moment or two before his brain caught up with him and he wrapped his arms around her, closed his eyes, and pulled her close, deepening the kiss. Both noticed the feeling of electricity coursing through their bodies, but only Hedwig, who rested on the nearby table, saw the blue and silver colors surrounding her chick and his mate mix together.

' _Finally,_ ' the white phoenix thought to herself. ' _They can finally change each other for the better..._ ' The great white bird laid her head under her long wing. She adored her chick from the first moment she had seen him, his lonely eyes looking through the window of Eeylops. The name he had given her made her love him that much more. Due to being hit with a stray experimental spell in her youth, she had the unique intelligence of a human. It’s why she allowed her chick to bathe and groom her every other day, and if he accidentally pulled a feather too hard, she would let him know it with a sharp bark and he would make sure to gently massage the spot and not tug so hard again.

She also knew the meaning behind her name, Hedwig. She loved how it sounded, her chick most likely loved the sound too, but she had also seen the story he had read about how there were three very important meanings to her name. The first meaning that she loved was that there was a patron saint, Saint Hedwig of Silesia, who had done many good and honorable things for the sickly, the elderly, and the orphaned in the name of God (though Hedwig wasn't exactly sure who this God fella was, but he sounded like a decent enough person if he promoted good will among humanity).

Another meaning to her name came from a Queen who was again a kind, gentle person who did things again in the name of God, but she still ruled over a group of people. Hedwig the owl, despite all her honor, also liked to think of herself as a Queen. Heck, other owls, despite her being a phoenix now, thought of her as royalty. It was a might vain she supposed, but no one ever said she couldn’t be vain (another reason she allowed her chick to bathe her).

The third meaning of her name was a Norwegian name, meaning female warrior or battle woman that was spelled with a 'v' instead of a 'w'. This meaning was most important to her, as she would even get testy with her chick sometimes.

She saw herself as all three meanings, however: a warrior willing to protect her loved ones, a Queen of the skies and most importantly, a mother to her chick. The third would always be her top priority, as he was in desperate need of a good mother figure. She had been unsure of this role in his life for the first three years they had been together, but at the end of Harry's third year she had talked to the teacher who could become a cat, Minerva McGonagall. Minerva had assured Hedwig that Harry seemed a lot more comfortable when Hedwig was around, as if he already viewed her as a mother.

Minerva had also said, albeit a bit sadly, that she was trying to be a mother figure to Harry too, but there were times when she couldn't be there for Harry but Hedwig could. Hedwig understood at that point that there were really other people who cared for Harry, but relied on Hedwig to be there when Harry needed someone to talk to desperately. Taking her role a bit more seriously had been an exhausting but rewarding experience.

She knew during the summer before Harry's fourth year, when the true master-familiar bond between Harry and herself had formed. It now often allowed her to know when Harry felt negative feelings, and she was sure to be there every time she felt he was upset to pull him out of his brooding. Sometimes she'd have to only bark to get his attention, and sometimes she would have to bite his finger. She would always cringe inwardly when she had to bite him, and she'd always be careful not to bite hard enough to draw blood, but he would get so deep into his brooding at times that he simply wouldn’t hear her bark.

As Hedwig came out of her thoughts, she felt a new bond forming and she lifted her head to see her two companions dancing to some music from the radio before cooing contently. The new bond came from the other female of the tent. This pleased Hedwig greatly; it could only mean that the mix of colors had been what she thought it was.

'If we survive to continue alongside this other time, then she's just given him the best reason he could hope for to return from Voldemort killing him to take away that foul piece of magic in his scar,' she thought happily.

Chirping to catch their attention, Hedwig prepared herself to flash away. There was a final book that she needed to get them to read and then send off. Harry turned to her as she showed him images of a small stack of books sitting in Dumbledore's old office, and of them reading one of them.

"Alright Hedwig, be careful though. Make sure to scan for you-know-who before you show yourself, okay?" he said worriedly.

She nodded her head and paused for a second before flashing away. Harry watched her go, only to have Hermione pull her attention away from that for a bit.

"Harry, she'll be fine. She's a smart bird and she knows you worry for her after...the incident..." she said softly, referring to Hedwig's almost-death.

"It's weird," she continued, looking like she was in deep concentration. "I know you tell me that she can communicate with you by sending images to your head through the Master-Familiar bond, but just now, I saw the images myself in my head."

Harry looked at her, blinking in surprise.

"You did? That's...odd..."

He was about to continue that thought, but Hedwig chose that moment to flash bask in, clutching a small book that she set on the table. She then settled back down in her spot and pushed the book towards them with one of her talons. Hermione went over and picked up the book, blinking as she read the cover aloud.

"Bond of the Soul, An insider's guide to Soul Bonds."

Hedwig bobbed her head and showed them an image of them kissing, with the blue and silver colors around them mixing together. This caused Hermione's eyes to widen as Harry blushed a lot.

Both had heard of soul bonds before. Hermione had asked about it in Charms class once, and it turned out that Professor Flitwick had been soul bonded at one point but his bond partner had been killed in the first war with Voldemort. He had said that he was only living because his partner had wanted him to continue living. He later revealed to Harry in Harry's third year during a private meeting that his bonded had been an aunt of James, and that she had asked Fillius to watch out for James, who had just lost his parents.

Harry had felt bad for his newly discovered Uncle (through marriage), but Flitwick had quickly told Harry that he was actually happy she had asked him to live. He had been able to be a proper father figure to James (who desperately needed one for the rest of his time at Hogwarts), and eventually Lily.

After that conversation, Harry had started going to visit his Uncle by staying after Charms class to catch his Uncle up on how his day went, and Fillius was only too happy to oblige. Off the record, Harry had even asked Fillius if he should run the D.A. during fifth year; needless to say, between Hermione and Fillius saying it was the perfect idea, Harry didn't need too long to decide before that faithful first meeting in the Hog's Head. Returning to the present from his musing, Harry looked at Hermione and smiled as he spoke up.

"Our experience is exactly like what Uncle Fillius talked about."

"Yes, but..." Hermione said while looking worried. "If it’s like it’s supposed to be, then we're registered in the book of magically binding contracts at both Gringotts and the Ministry with the location it happened at."

"No, remember what Uncle Fillius said about exceptions? Locations that are made Unplottable are marked as unknown in the book," he said soothingly.

Hermione's eyes brightened in remembrance. "Oh right, I forgot about that."

Harry smiled and hugged her before twirling her.

"Shall we partake in another dance, m'lady?"

"Of course good sir," Hermione said jokingly.

Suddenly on the radio there was static, as a song popped on the radio that they both recognized well, having recognized the artist from the muggle world. As they started dancing to it, Hermione smiled happily.

_"Wise men say only fools rush in,_

_But I can't help falling in love with you_

_Shall I stay_

_Would it be a sin_

_If I can't help falling in love with you" [R11.1]_

"You know," Hermione said as they swayed back and forth to the music. "I feel like this would make a great wedding song."

_Like a river flows surely to the sea_

_Darling so it goes_

_Some things are meant to be_

_Take my hand, take my whole life too_

_For I can't help falling in love with you [R11.5]_

Harry nodded in agreement and smiled softly.

"Yeah, marriage or no, let’s make this our song, okay?"

Hermione nodded and leaned her head against Harry's chest, sighing happily.

_Like a river flows surely to the sea_

_Darling so it goes_

_Some things are meant to be_

_Take my hand, take my whole life too_

_For I can't help falling in love with you_

_For I can't help falling in love with you [R11.9]_

With the last verse, Harry twirled Hermione and dipped her carefully. As the two stared into each other's eyes, neither noticed the radio going static again and a small "heh" coming through, nor did they notice the radio then switch back to the music they usually listened to as Harry firmly kissed Hermione.

\----------

Finally, a week later they had finally arrived at Stonehenge. They were alone, thanks to a temporary fidelis (as more than likely the magical backlash from what they were about to do would break it) and some muggle repelling charms (for all the good it did them, as most of the muggles in England were either dead or hiding in their homes out of fear for the "terrorists").

However, Harry's thoughts were far from that. They had sent word to Godric and their friends ten minutes ago that they were beginning preparations. Only a minute later he knew his past self was already with Godric. His memories were slowly being joined by a new set of memories, one of a life with Godric, Hermione, a slightly chubbier Neville and surprisingly a fourth clouded face.

It had come as a further surprise when in the new memories he discovered that Godric had renamed them after introducing himself. Needless to say, Harry was surprised at the name Godric had given his younger self, though he knew he really shouldn’t have been. A certain ability of his made it quite obvious who he was. Hermione had confirmed that it was the same for her.

Both Harry and Hermione were glad however, because their memories weren't being replaced with the new ones. Rather, the two sets of memories were being joined together. It made them able to make last minute corrections to their letters to their younger selves.

Harry shivered as he worked, receiving his first negative memory of their time in the past. Shaking himself out of it, he touched a rune on the inside of one of the stones. He and Hermione had found runes all over the place and a note written in runes carved into a non-magic-infused stone tablet to them from Godric saying the runes were his. With some examination, Hermione determined they were the exact runes they needed, only needing to be fixed up a bit due to weather erosion over the years. As Hermione approached, sensing that he finished powering the last rune, he turned to her and spoke up once more, his words cautious in tone.

"Are we all ready, 'Mione?"

"Yes," She responded softly, holding out her hand.

He took her hand and kissed it, as they moved to the center of the rock formations where the trunk and Hedwig waited. As soon as she saw them, she flew to Harry's shoulder and landed on it, trilling worriedly.

"Don't worry Hed," Harry said quietly. "I have a feeling everything will turn out right for us."

With that, he and Hermione closed their eyes and started focusing their now shared power. Hedwig looked around as the site started lighting up, the trunk slowly glowing a dark blue. Suddenly Harry opened his eyes, hugged Hermione to him, and spoke up in a loud and clear tone.

"Anfonwch y gwrthrych hwn yn ôl mewn amser at ein ffrind [T16]"

With those words, the trunk vanished in a flare of blue and silver energy which started to spread out. Just before it reached them, Harry looked down at Hermione and said something that caused the girl's eyes to widen happily.

"Hey Hermione, will you marry me?"

**"YES!"**

With that uttered cry of happiness, the magic hit them and spread to the rest of the world, as time became eerily still…

\-------------------------------------

In a grassy field in another plane of existence much unlike our own yet at the same time exactly like our own sat 2 beings of immense power. One was an ever aging female in a simple Greeko-Roman female tunic and dress. Her companion was in a robe made of silky black with a hood completely obscuring his face. This figure had a quite obvious male presence about him. 

The peculier field they were in was covered in chess boards, some of them played while others remained blank. Both of these 2 people seemed oblivious to that fact however, choosing instead to focus intensely on the game board between them.

The male sat back as his lightning bolt shaped king piece and his otter shaped queen piece trapped his opponent's snake shaped king piece in a corner in check.

" _An interesting situation Ms Thread_ " he said in a whispery tone " _But how, may I ask, do you plan to make this work without dear Mr. Clock's help_?".

" **Mr Scythe, you should know me a bit better than that by now. I asked Mr. Clock and Madem D for permission to er.....bend the rules a bit while you were dealing with that other nuisance** " 'Ms. Thread' said, a cheeky grin crossing her face.

' **_Bend the rules_ ** ?” Mr Scythe' responded sounding highly amused, _"My dear Ms. T, this is throwing the book at the judge and opponent at the same time._ "

" **Yes I know!** " Ms. Thread chirped, her cheeky grin morphing into a smug smirk.

Silence followed this statement but it wouldn't last long. 'Ms Thread' knew her friend and opponent was studying her and she chose to wait him out.

" _Will this new scenario get me my prize?_ " Mr Sythe asked finally with a resigned sigh.

" **Of course Mr Sythe!** " Ms Thread said, sounding annoyed that he'd ask such a thing " **That…..mortal moron cheated all 4 of us in one way or another. We don't want him getting away with it. I believe this is the best scenario to deal with him. It humiliates him horribly on top of everything else”**

" _Alright, Alright, shall we get to this then? This will probably take 3 more boards_ " Mr Scythe said with another sigh.

" **Another 2 boards actually. Once we finish the first scenario the timeline should right itself again. Mr. Clock will only be involved a tiny bit. Anyways, once the second scenario is finished we can probably come back to this one to finish it on its intended path** " Ms Thread said as an explanation " **I’ve grown quite fond of our favored King, Mr Sythe** ".

" _I think we all have Ms. Thread_ " Mr Scythe said with a slight chuckle _"They are good people with an even better head on their shoulders. Perhaps an even better one now since they finally won one of their 3 soul mates from manipulation_ . _How does that work anyways? The whole 3 soulmate options I mean?"_

 **"My daughter and I leave the choice of soul mates up to all involved and if one or 2 are left out they can still marry others without the strained bond bothering them too much. For instance, in this currently played life the little moon will be with young Neville and our lion, however in another life she could be the only one with our favored King while our favorite bookworm would be alone but would have a chance to be a parent anyways"** Ms Thread nodded smiling fondly at her opponent's pieces and then called out " **Mr Clock! Could you please suspend this game until we can get back to it?!** ".

The entire chess board flashed a blue and silver color and then faded to gray.

 **"Thank you dear!"** Ms Thread called again as she and Mr Scythe moved to a new game table.

This game, she knew, wouldn't be played against each other, rather one of them would be playing one set of events and the other would play a different set of events, much like what the Mundane mortals called Dungeons & Dragons (in her opinion it was one of their more brilliant inventions).

The one game board split into 2 seperate tables which both sat at. Looking down she watched as the normal chess board vanished but left several pieces in the forms of a trunk, a stag, a doe, a bat, a tabby cat, a dog, a wolf, and several other pieces.

" **Great!** " she chirped cheerfully looking up at her 'Dungeon Master' happily " **I get the first scenario! I do hope you have good things for me Mr Clock!** "

Sitting before her was a man who seemed to be aging alarmingly fast and returning to a young age just as fast.

"I fail to find your enthusiasm for this task inspiring Ms Thread" he rasped, as if he had not used his voice in quite a while.

 **"Of course you don’t,** **you’re such a party pooper Mr Clock!"** Ms Thread said pouting.

Mr Clock shrugged and motioned to their board.

"Shall we start?"

" **Indeed** "

**Author's Note:**

> Translation: (1 through 11 and 16 is Google's English to Welsh translation, and 12 through 15 are Latin)  
> T1- Good day, Mry, how are you?  
> T2- Godric, young one, I'm healthy, and you?  
> T3- Not good I'm afraid. Dream…….No, life kept me up half the night  
> T4- This dream, I feel strongly that it is one of a distant future. I was hoping you would help me work it out  
> T5- Tell me, young one, so that I may consult M'lady better  
> T6- The most vivid vision was of a young man with hair as black as the raven, shimmering emerald eyes, and the Sowilo Rune engraved on his brow.  
> T7- He was fighting against ... well I'm not entirely positive that 'man' could be used to describe him, I mean it might have been a long time ago since he walked on 2 legs and carried a stick like us, but he seems to have no humanity. A monster would be a more suitable description for one like him  
> T8- Anyway, this young man was fighting this monster in a castle, I woke up as the final charm met in the middle of their battlefield. Although I remember a voice saying that the result 'wouldn't do'  
> T9- Give me a moment to chat with M'Lady, you'll get your answer in a second  
> T10- It seems Lady Fate needs to help us help the young man. You with your guidance and I with my magical reserves  
> T11- I see, I seem to be correct in my hypothesis. What do we need to do to get started?
> 
> T12- Seek the restriction magic  
> T13- Identify the restriction magic  
> T14- Remove restriction magic  
> T15- We will have Chaos
> 
> T16- Send this object back in time to our friend
> 
> ==========
> 
> References: 
> 
> R1- The Deathly Hallows, Chapter 15: The Goblin’s Revenge  
> R2- The Deathly Hallows  
> R3- The Deathly Hallows, Chapter 16: Godric's Hollow  
> R4- Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 28, Flight of the Prince  
> R5- Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 14, Felix Felicis  
> R6- The Deathly Hallows, Chapter 19, The Silver Doe  
> R7- The Deathly Hallows, Chapter 19, The Silver Doe  
> R8- Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 5, The Dementor  
> R9- Deathly Hallows, Chapter 6, The Ghoul in Pajamas  
> R10- The Deathly Hallows, Chapter 19, The Silver Doe  
> R11- "I can't help falling in love with you" by Elvis Presley
> 
> =====================
> 
> AN: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand there's the first chapter....you remember how I said that Google translate can be unreliable at times....... well I grabbed some translations from the old fic and tried to retranslate them.....well just look.......
> 
> Old fic (I did, at the time, tripple and even quadrupal check this)
> 
> "Vas in manu percurret tempore--->Give into the hand of the vessel to travel through time"
> 
> Now
> 
> "Vas in manu percurret tempore--->Travel through the cup in his hand"
> 
> And it keeps changing.......Click the swap language button once and you get
> 
> "Travel through the cup in his hand--->Travel per poculum in manu sua"
> 
> Click again
> 
> "Travel per poculum in manu sua--->Travel with a cup in his hand;"
> 
> and again
> 
> "Travel with a cup in his hand;--->Cum iter poculum in manu sua,"
> 
> and it juuuuuust keeeeeeeeeps gooooooooooing. And it's not just that one, all the old Latin translations were doing similar things. Seeeeeeend heeeeeeeeeeeep.
> 
> Anyways, that is all, I've been up editing this since 2:30ish AM sooooooI'm off to bed. R&R
> 
> ~IcyAda


End file.
